Sunvisor hinge for automobiles

ABSTRACT

A sunvisor for automobiles comprises a sunvisor body, a metal reinforcing rod which reinforces the sunvisor body and has two U-shaped ends, a retaining spring, a sunvisor hinge having a vertical arm attachable to a base member fitted to a structure of a vehicle and a horizontal arm snugly attachable to the retaining spring housed in the linking body so that the sunvisor may be rotated about a horizontal arm of the supporting pivot, the linking body being formed as an elongated parallelopipedon with two adjoining hollow longitudinal sections including a front section and a rear section separated from one another by a wall, the front section housing the retaining spring and being open at its free end and also having means for snugly receiving both ends of the metal ring reinforcing rod so that the ends are aligned longitudinally and left facing each other, means for fixing a position of the retaining spring, and means for fixing a position of one of the L-shaped ends of the metal reinforcing rod, the rear section of the linking body having one of its side faces open and being provided with means for fixing a position of the other of the U-shaped ends of the metal reinforcing rod, the front and rear sections being sized to receive the horizontal arm of the supporting pivot in a snug fit when the linking body and the metal reinforcing rod have been fitted together.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is related to a hinge for sunvisors forautomobiles which, specifically, is for application in connection withsunvisors based on a body obtained by the injection-moulding of amaterial of low specific gravity, such as polyurethane. The bodyincludes a reinforcing frame consisting of a metal rod whose shapematches the shape of the visor body.

It is widely known that sunvisors, such as those described above andnormally fitted as standard equipment in automobiles, have a hinge whichenables the user to set the sunvisor to any of its usual positions foruse in a stable way. The hinge consists basically of a bent supportingpivot attached to the vehicle's structure by means of a base memberfitted to it, and of a retaining spring set inside a linking body, madegenerally in plastic materials, which is included in the body of thevisor and firmly joined to the metal reinforcing rod. The retainingspring is sized to receive snugly the horizontal arm of the supportingpivot in such a way that the visor may be rotated around that pivot.Furthermore, both the spring and the horizontal arm of the supportingpivot possess complementary means for positioning them with respect toeach other ensuring greater retaining strength in the rest position(s)of the visor, i.e. moving the visor away from those positions requiresthe user to exert a turning torque whose value is significantly higherthan that required when the visor is not occupying its rest position(s).

By way of example of embodiments of sunvisor hinges such as thosedescribed above, Spanish utility model number U 8902208 may be quoted.It describes a linking body with an essentially quadrangular prismaticshape providing a housing for fitting a retaining spring and, around itsedge, a recess such as to house a metal reinforcing rod shaped with adouble bend, to prevent the linking body from changing its position oncethe linking body has been attached to the rod.

Known embodiments of linking bodies for sunvisor hinges such as thatdescribed above all suffer, wholly or partly, from the followingdrawbacks. Their use requires the metal reinforcing rod to have a closedperimeter, ie. that the ends of the metal rod be joined together,generally by welding. Moreover, the linking bodies are sizeable items asa result of having to withstand the high stresses to which they aresubjected when the visor is positioned by the user, said sizeconstituting a clear limitation on performance. These drawbacks lead tohigh fitting and/or manufacturing costs for the sunvisor, whichsignificantly increase the price of the finished product.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide asunvisor hinge which solves the above-mentioned drawbacks --i.e. one notrequiring the welding of the ends of the visor's metal reinforcing rodand not being large in size --a sunvisor hinge with a new structure forautomobiles is disclosed.

The sunvisor hinge of the invention comprises the following knownelements. A one-piece linking body, made preferably in plasticmaterials, having means for its firm attachment to the metal reinforcingrod of the sunvisor body, and with a housing for snugly receiving aretaining spring. A bent supporting pivot, of whose two arms, verticaland horizontal, the vertical one is attachable to a base member fittedto the structure of the vehicle, and the horizontal one, or pivot ofrotation for the sunvisor, is snugly attachable to the retaining springhoused in the linking body in such a way that the sunvisor may berotated around the horizontal arm of the supporting pivot.

The sunvisor hinge of this invention is characterized in that theessential shape of the linking body is an elongated parallelepipedon inwhich two adjoining hollow longitudinal sections, one in front and onebehind, are present, of similar size, separated by the wall betweenthem. The front section, which houses the retaining spring, is open atits free end and possesses means for snugly receiving both the free endsof the metal reinforcing rod, in such a way that said ends, alignedlongitudinally, are left facing each other; means for fixing theposition of the retaining spring; and means for fixing the position ofan L-shaped end of the metal reinforcing rod. Furthermore, the rearsection of the linking body has one of its side faces open, andpossesses means of fixing the position of the other U-shaped end of themetal reinforcing rod. These two sections, front and rear, are sized toreceive the horizontal arm of the supporting pivot in a snug fit whenthe linking body and the metal reinforcing rod have been fittedtogether.

In the front section of the linking body, the means for snugly receivingthe two free ends of the metal reinforcing rod have a tubular extensionwhich, arising in the interior wall, comes out in the rear section andextends until it reaches the open end of the front section. The meanswhich fix the position of the retaining spring possess, on the upperface of the linking body, a longitudinal rib, and in the tubularextension, two diametrically arranged radial ribs and a tangentialextension which run all along its length; these ribs and tangentialextension are sized in such a way that, when the retaining spring ishoused in the front section, they prevent the spring from being movedaway from the position taken up. Furthermore, the means which fix theposition of the relevant end of the metal rod have an orthogonalextension of relatively short length set in the open end of the frontsection, and this extension has a slot running all along its length withretaining projections for gripping, through successive elasticdeformations of the side walls of said longitudinal extension, a sectionof the metal reinforcing rod.

In the rear section of the linking body, the means which fix theposition of the other end of the metal reinforcing rod comprise, on thefront face, which is the one opposite the front section, a through-slotarranged centrally and in parallel to the open side face, and in thelower face, which is the face forming a dihedron with said front faceand open side, a recessed housing, basically U-shaped, in whichretaining projections are arranged, preferably three in number, two onthe sides and one in the middle. The through-slot and the recessedhousing are sized in such a way that the relevant end of the metal rod,which has a U shape similar to the shape of the recessed housing, may bepassed inside the rear section through the through-slot, and its freeend be inserted into the tubular extension of the front section, in sucha way that the metal rod may be rotated around the axis defined by thetubular extension and be firmly fitted in said recessed housing afterelastic deformations of the retaining projections.

Preferably, when coupling the U-shaped end of the metal rod with thelinking body, the central retaining projection is elastically deformedby means of a tool designed for the purpose, in such a way that, duringsaid rotation of the metal rod, the rod elastically deforms the othertwo retaining projections on the side and, when the U-shaped section ofthe metal rod is inside the recessed housing, the central projectionelastically reassumes its initial position on ceasing to apply the tool.Naturally, this tool arrangement for the elastic deformation of thecentral retaining projection does not affect the function assigned tothe side retaining projections.

The novel features which are considered as characteristic for theinvention are set forth in particular in the appended claims. Theinvention itself, however, both as to its construction and its method ofoperation, together with additional objects and advantages thereof, willbe best understood from the following description of specificembodiments when read in connection with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The novel features which are considered as characteristic for theinvention are set forth in particular in the appended claims. Theinvention itself, however, both as to its construction and its method ofoperation, together with additional objects and advantages thereof, willbe best understood from the following description of specificembodiments when read in connection with the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a side view of a sunvisor hinge incorporating the hinge ofthis invention.

FIG. 2 is a side view of the linking body of the hinge of thisinvention.

FIG. 3 is a front view of the linking body of the hinge of thisinvention.

FIG. 4 is another side view of the linking body of the hinge of thisinvention.

FIG. 5 is a view of section V--V shown in FIG. 3.

FIG. 6 is a view of section VI--VI shown in FIG. 5.

FIG. 7 is a view of section VII--VII shown in FIG. 5.

FIGS. 8, 9, 10 and 11 are respective views showing successive stages inthe coupling of the two ends of the metal reinforcing rod of thesunvisor and the linking body of the hinge of this invention.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The sunvisor hinge for automobiles of this invention, which is describedas an example of embodiment, is applicable, as shown in FIG. 1, tosunvisors. In particular, it can be used in a sunvisor housing visorbody 1, generally made by injection-moulding polyurethane, whichincorporates the metal rod 2, of circular section, that acts as astructural reinforcing part and which, as shown in FIG. 1, has a shapewhich is very similar to that of the body 1. In this example ofapplication of the hinge of this invention, the sunvisor shown in FIG. 1also has a hanging bridge 3 and a mirror 4, known as a "vanity mirror".Both the body 1, the bridge 3 and the mirror 4, and indeed the metal rod2 itself, are given only as a non-restrictive example of the applicationpossibilities of the hinge of this invention, since all these items maytake on other forms and layouts suitable to any given case ofapplication without this affecting the essence of the invention.

The hinge of this invention comprises the linking body 5, in which theretaining spring 6 is housed, as shown schematically by dotted lines inFIG. 11, and the supporting pivot 7 shown in FIG. 1. The linking body 5and the supporting pivot 7, respectively, are made preferably of plasticmaterials of suitable mechanical properties, and the retaining spring 6is made preferably of very flexible metal sheet. FIG. 1 shows how thesupporting pivot 7 has a bent shape. Its vertical arm 8 may be attachedto a base member on the vehicle structure, this not being shown in thedrawings. Its horizontal arm 9, which is shown schematically in FIG. 11by dotted lines, is housed inside the linking body 5 and in such a waythat, when subjected to compression by the retaining spring 6, itenables the user to rotate the sunvisor around the horizontal arm 9 andset it in a stable fashion to any of its normal positions for use.

The above is well known and customarily used for many known embodimentsof hinges for sunvisors based on a visor body produced by the injectionmoulding of a light material.

FIGS. 2, 3 and 4 show how the linking body 5 is shaped essentially as anelongated parallelepipedon with rounded edges, in which two longitudinalsections of similar length may be observed, the front section 10 and therear section 11 respectively, shown in FIGS. 5, 8 and 9. These sections10 and 11 are separated by the inner wall 12 which, as shown in FIGS. 5,8 and 9, arise in the lower face i of the linking body 5, and also makeup the longitudinal housing 13 in which the horizontal arm 9 of thesupporting pivot 7 may be inserted, as shown in FIG. 11.

FIGS. 5, 6 and 8 show how the front section 10 includes the tubularextension 14 which, arising in the inner wall 12, extends to reach theopen end of section 10. This tubular section 14, which comes out in therear section 11, is sized, as shown in FIG. 11 by dotted lines, snuglyto receive both the free ends 15 and 16 of the metal reinforcing rod 2,in such a way that both the free ends, 15 and 16, are lined uplongitudinally together.

The position occupied by the retaining spring 6 in the front section 10is set by the longitudinal rib 17 lying along the upper face s of thelinking body 5, and by the two diametrically opposed radial ribs 18, andby the tangential extension 19 of the tubular extension 14, as shown inthe section view given in FIG. 6, and by dotted lines in FIG. 11.

FIGS. 2, 4, 5, 8, 9 and 11 show how, at the open end of the frontsection 10, there is an orthogonal extension 20 with a reinforcement 21acting as a supporting bracket, which runs for a relatively shortlength. Extension 20 has, on its exterior face as shown in FIGS. 5, 8and 9, the U-shaped longitudinal slot 22 in which the two retainingprojections 23 are arranged opposite each other. This longitudinal slot22 is sized to grip the section of the metal reinforcing rod 2 near itsfree end 15, as shown by dotted lines in FIG. 11.

FIGS. 2, 7 and 11 show how the rear section 11 of the linking body 5 hasone of its side faces l open, like a window, and its front face f, whichis the face opposite the front section 10, bears the centralthrough-slot 24 which, as shown in FIG. 3, is set in parallel withrespect to the open side face l. This through-slot 24 is sized in such away that, as shown in FIG. 9, the metal reinforcing rod 2 can go throughit. Furthermore, as shown in FIGS. 3, 5, 8, 9 and 11, the lower end ofthe central slot 24 is aligned longitudinally with the hole of thetubular extension 14 of the front section 10, in such a way that arotational axis is defined, as shown in FIG. 9.

FIGS. 2, 4, 5, 8, 9 and 11 show how the lower face i of the linking body5, which is the face that forms a dihedron with the front face f and theopen side face l, forms a recessed and basically U-shaped housing 25.Reinforcing ribs 26 shown in FIG. 4 give it high mechanical resistanceto deformation. FIGS. 2 and 11 show how the lower face i has twoidentical retaining side projections 27. And FIG. 7 Shows incross-section how the side wall 1', which is the one opposite the openside wall 1, has the central retaining projection 28. The retainingprojections 27 and 28 fix the section of the metal reinforcing rod 2fitted in the recessed housing 25 formed by the lower face i as shown inFIG. 11.

The coupling of the linking body 5 of the sunvisor hinge of thisinvention to the metal reinforcing rod 2 of the body 1 of the visorrequires, firstly, that the retaining spring 6 be housed in the frontsection 10 of the linking body 5. Its position is set by the action ofthe longitudinal rib 17 and the tubular extension 14 by means of its tworadial ribs 18 and the tangential extension 19. Secondly the sections ofthe metal rod 2 near its free ends 15 and 16 are arranged as shown inFIG. 11. The section near the free end 16, which is attachable to thelower section 10 of the linking body 5, is L-shaped, and the sectionnear the free end 15, which is attachable to the rear section 11 of thelinking body 5, is U-shaped. On this basis, the coupling of the linkingbody 5 with the metal rod 2 is performed as follows: firstly, the freeend 15 is inserted into the tubular extension 14 of the front section 10through the through-slot 24 of the front face f of the rear section 11,in such a way that the U-shaped section of the metal rod 2 is arrangedin the front section 11 as shown in FIG. 9. Then next, the metal rod 2is turned around its turning axis formed by the tubular extension 14 andthe lower end of the through-slot 24. This turning of the rod 2 iscontinued until the retaining projections 27 and 28 are reached, atwhich point greater turning torque needs to be applied to rod 2 in orderto provoke an initial elastic deformation of the retaining projections27 and 28 and in such a way that the U-shaped section of rod 2 comes tooccupy recessed housing 25 of the rear section 11, as shown in FIG. 11.When the elastic deformation force ceases to be applied to the retainingprojections 27 and 28, they spring back elastically to their initialposition, preventing this free end of the rod 2 from coming away fromthe linking body 5. Next, the free end 16 of the metal rod 2 is insertedin the tubular extension 14 of the front section 10 and, simultaneously,the straight section of the other end of rod 2 is pressed into thelongitudinal slot 22 of the orthogonal extension 20, in such a way thatthe retaining projections 23 arranged on said slot 22 prevent this endof the rod 2 from coming away from the linking body 5. Once the linkingbody 5 has been coupled to the metal rod 2, as shown in FIG. 11, inwhich its free ends 15 and 16 are longitudinally aligned, the visor body1 may then be injected, and subsequently the horizontal arm 9 of thesupporting pivot 7 may be fitted in the longitudinal housing 13, asshown in FIG. 1.

Preferably, when coupling the U-shaped metal rod 2 to the rear section11 of the linking body 5, the elastic deformation of the centralretaining projection 27 is performed with the assistance of the tool uprovided for the purpose and shown schematically by dotted lines in FIG.10. Thus, turning the U-shaped rod 2 results in the elastic deformationof the two lateral retaining projections 27, while the elasticdeformation of the above-mentioned central projection 28 is achievedusing said tool u. In this way, once the U-shaped rod 2 has been fittedin the recessed housing 25, the lateral retaining projections 27reassume their initial position due to elastic action, and when the toolu ceases to be applied to the central retaining projection 28, it toosprings back to its initial position, preventing the linking body 5 fromcoming away from the metal rod 2, as previously stated.

It will be understood that each of the elements described above, or twoor more together, may also find a useful application in other types ofconstructions differing from the types described above.

While the invention has been illustrated and described as embodied in asunvisor hinge for automobiles, it is not intended to be limited to thedetails shown, since various modifications and structural changes may bemade without departing in any way from the spirit of the presentinvention.

Without further analysis, the foregoing will so fully reveal the gist ofthe present invention that others can, by applying current knowledge,readily adapt it for various applications without omitting featuresthat, from the standpoint of prior art, fairly constitute essentialcharacteristics of the generic or specific aspects of this invention.

What is claimed as new and desired to be protected by Letters Patent isset forth in the appended claims.

I claim:
 1. A sunvisor for automobiles, comprising a sunvisor body; ametal reinforcing rod which reinforces said sunvisor body and has twoends; a linking body attached to said reinforcing rod; retaining springhoused in said linking body; a sunvisor hinge having a vertical armattachable to a base member fitted to a structure of a vehicle and ahorizontal arm snugly attachable to said retaining spring, housed insaid linking body so that the sunvisor body is rotatable about saidhorizontal arm of said sunvisor hinge, said linking body being formed asan elongated parallelopipedon with two adjoining hollow longitudinalsections including a front section and a rear section separated from oneanother by a wall, said front section housing said retaining spring andbeing open at its free end and also having means for snugly receivingboth ends of said metal reinforcing rod so that said ends are alignedlongitudinally and left facing each other; means for fixing a positionof said retaining spring; and means for fixing a position of one of saidends of said metal reinforcing rod, said rear section of said linkingbody having one of its side faces open and being provided with means forfixing a position of the other of said ends of said metal reinforcingrod, said front and rear sections being sized to receive the horizontalarm of said sunvisor hinge in a snug fit when said linking body and saidmetal reinforcing rod have been fitted together.
 2. A sunvisor asdefined in claim 1, wherein said linking body is composed of a plasticmaterial.
 3. A sunvisor as defined in claim 1, wherein said means forsnugly receiving said ends of said metal reinforcing rod include atubular extension which, arising from said wall of said linking bodycomes out in said rear section and extends until it reaches said openend of said front section.
 4. A sunvisor as defined in claim 3, whereinsaid means for fixing a position of said retaining spring include alongitudinal rib provided on an upper face of said linking body and twodiametrically arranged radially radial ribs and a tangential extensionprovided in said tubular extension running along a length of saidtubular extension, said ribs and said tangential extension being sizedso that when said retaining spring is housed in said front section ofsaid linking body, they prevent said retaining spring from being movedaway from a position taken up.
 5. A sunvisor as defined in claim 3,wherein said other end of said reinforcing rod is U-shaped, said meansfor fixing a position of the other end of said metal reinforcing rodincluding a through-slot provided in said rear section on a front facewhich is opposite to said front section and arranged centrally andparallel to said open side face of said rear section, and asubstantially U-shaped recessed housing provided in a dihedron shapedlower face of said rear section and having retaining projections, saidthrough-slot and said recessed housing being sized so that said otherU-shaped end of said metal rod passes inside said rear sections throughsaid through-slot and said free end of said metal rod is inserted insaid tubular extension of said front section so that said metal rod berotatable around an axis defined by said tubular extension and firmlyfitted in said recessed housing after elastic deformations of saidretaining projections.
 6. A sunvisor as defined in claim 5, wherein saidretaining projections include two side projections and one centralprojection.
 7. A sunvisor as defined in claim 6, wherein said centralretaining projection is formed so that when attaching said otherU-shaped end of said metal rod to said linking body, said centralretaining projection is elastically deformable by a tool in such a waythat during rotation of said metal rod, said metal rod elasticallydeforms said side projections when said other U-shaped end of said metalrod is inside said recessed housing, said central projection elasticallyreassuming its initial position on ceasing to apply the tool.
 8. Asunvisor as defined in claim 6, wherein said one end of said metalreinforcing rod is L-shaped, while said other end of said metalreinforcing rod is U-shaped.
 9. A sunvisor as defined in claim 1,wherein said means for fixing a position of an end of said metal rodinclude an orthogonal extension having a relatively short length and setin said open end of said front section, said extension having a slotrunning all along a length of said extension and provided with retainingprojections for gripping a section of said metal reinforcing rod.